I’m linking to an excellent essay from Camilla Strandberg. We can get caught up in our identities as singers, and become unhealthy about it. This essay and manifesto frees us from that. What is a singer? by Camilla Strandberg
Tag: performance anxiety
The constant flow of associations and judgements
Before you can do anything well, you must concentrate. You must still the mind in order to use the mind. In the Age of Anxiety we are in a mode of such extreme noise, internal and external, literal and metaphorical. When thinking, observing, doing – stop. Pay attention to what is. Not how this compares […]
Your way of singing works until it doesn’t
Do you have favorite feedback sensations that tell you that all is well? I do. You may feel your upper range flying out of the back of your head, or you may feel that your chest voice resonates against your hard palate or that you feel your back expanding every time you breathe or that your […]
Shape of the mouth in singing
Please note that none of these quotations from singing masters of the past indicate a pervasively serious expression, a tall oval mouth opening, protruding lips, or a long, sad face. Most of the mentions of facial expression that I have found instructed something along the lines of the lighter emotions, and the outliers were the […]
The spirit of the song
If one is filled with the spirit of the song, is sincere and earnest, and is filled with a desire to express what is beautiful and good he will not sing badly even if his voice be ordinary. – D. A. Clippinger in The Head Voice and Other Problems
Forgetting, relearning, and liking it
Often when I practice, especially after a break, I feel like I’ve forgotten how to sing. I just can’t open my mouth and do what seemed easy before – right away. I’ve learned not to worry about this phenomenon, although I used to get a little nutty about it. Over the years I have figured out […]
Getting off the train
Sometimes you just need a break. Don’t feel bad about that. It can be restorative to take a week or two off from your musical routine. As a music major in college, it is ground into us that we must work, work, work. More is better and there’s never “enough” or “too much” in such […]
Singers and Complex Rhythms
I have a student who freezes up reading rhythms. He has dyslexia, but is very musically talented and accomplished (working on his master’s in voice). One crucial aspect of learning rhythms is the FEELING. Not just the thinking, the studying, the intellectual knowledge. Rhythm needs to be felt and understood in the BODY. Physicalizing rhythm […]
Finding your way back – every day
I am generally a good practicer. Not always as much as I’d like, but I’m fairly regular. Sometimes I’ll start vocalizing and not liking how I’m singing, but I know that if I keep going, with intelligent principles and kindness to myself, I start to sound better. I’ll get to a point where I think, […]
Stage Fright, Performance Anxiety, “Nerves”
Heightened levels of adrenaline and feelings of anxiousness are common and normal for performers at any level. How to deal with performance anxiety is the subject of hundreds of articles and books. Here’s one more… I think that rather than only working on ways to decrease arousal, one has to learn to sing WITH it. […]
Taking Risks
I recently returned from the 9th Annual Contemporary Commercial Music Vocal Pedagogy Institute in Winchester, VA. This was my second time going, and it was once again an inspirational and informative experience. It was nice to meet so many wonderful teachers and singers and make personal connections. I took two classes that helped me move […]